Home > Culture > Mentor Showcase > The 2007 Best-of Series: Todd Rosenberg
The 2007 'Best Of' Series
We have now produced an annual Best Of issue of the ASMP Bulletin for the third year in a row. As before, we selected twenty projects for our issue — but this year, we had nearly 200 excellent submissions! It was a tough decision, and we thank all those who submitted their work. We hope you will enjoy reading about these projects.
Todd Rosenberg, Chicago, IL
Web site: www.toddrphoto.com
Project: Snapshot-style food pictures for Kraft annual report
People playing with food was the recipe for success in Todd Rosenberg’s annual report assignment from Kraft. Modeled after images found on social networking Web sites, the concept called for mixing a cast of real people and a look borrowed from point-and-shoot snapshots. With the aid of personal contacts who sent tips for models and settings via camera phone snaps, Rosenberg managed the talent, locations and product placement during 15 days of shooting in the U.S., Barcelona and Moscow. The easy communication and the client’s willingness to produce something out of the box were just the right ingredients to make this project Rosenberg’s favorite assignment to date.
All images © Todd Rosenberg
ASMP: How long have you been in business?
Freelance and otherwise: since college graduation in 1990.
ASMP: How long have you been an ASMP member?
12 years?
ASMP: What are your photographic specialties?
People, lifestyle and otherwise. “Corporate Editorial,” in addition to my work with The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
ASMP: Please describe the processes and techniques central to the making of this work.
The majority of the process was networking. Mike Miller, the art director from Genesis Inc. out of Denver wanted to use “non Kraft” employees, which meant relying on my friends and friends of people at Kraft to make sure we were using a diverse range and scope of people. A lot of the work was done on the fly. I had to rely on contacts, some of whom I had never met or spoken with to help find the right models.
ASMP: What do you consider your most valuable piece of equipment?
For this shoot, I hate to say it, but it was my Blackberry. I had just purchased one and having it allowed me to be in constant contact with Mike in Denver, Donna Sitkiewicz, my Kraft client in Chicago, as well as the models I was trying to set up as the project moved along. Had I not had one, I would have been stopping on a regular basis at whatever WiFi location to exchange emails and upload files.
ASMP: What is unique about your style/approach, or what sets you and your work apart from other photographers?
I believe that one thing which sets me apart is that I really care how subjects feel as they are being photographed. I truly believe no matter who or what is being done, a portrait is a working relationship between the photographer and the subject. I do bring the vision to the shoot, but I want the subject to enjoy both the product and the process. Combine that with approachability. I want people to feel comfortable when they are being photographed.
ASMP: How much were you personally aware of or have used social media tools such as mySpace and Flikr before this assignment? What, if any, research did you do to prepare for the project?
I am a mySpace user and Facebook. I have not used Flikr before this, but I was aware of the site and had seen it. I like what it does. Images are genuine and feel very personal.
ASMP: In hindsight, what have you learned from these sites and this approach to community? Do you have a mySpace page yourself? Do you use Flickr? Do you have a favorite social-networking or picture-sharing site?
I know these sites are the new way people share and communicate. I love what people are doing on Facebook. MySpace is too commercial now and too much spam imagery. But society has gone “photo casual” — people want to feel like the people in the images are people they can relate to. This is a growing trend in advertising and corporate imagery. I have been having fun with Facebook. People love snapshots, and I do as well. I think it has given me a more relaxed, less structured style in some work… loosened me up a bit.
ASMP: What kind of presentation did you use for showing your client the test photos? Aside from the equipment used, was there anything different about the your presentation the second time?
The art director and I have a good relationship. He called me to test the concept in preparation for pitching it to Kraft, with the feeling that I may get some of the work. It took a couple tries, but after I was able to do the shooting with a personal camera, Mike put me on the entire shoot. I understood what he was going for. The imagery was very well described either with visual examples from his own personal snapshots or by very well done sketches, and I was able to produce.
The major difference between the first and second go-around was that the initial photos were a lot more photojournalistic, the second grouping were a lot more candid and relaxed.
ASMP: Did you feel handicapped by the limited equipment you had to use? Was the thought process during the shoot different using consumer vs. pro equipment?
I felt more liberated because I did not have to think about what lens to use or what lighting to work with. I basically had to focus on the subjects. I purchased a 35mm f1.4 because it is a sharp small lens. In addition, when it is on the Mark IIN the focal length matches that of the personal digital cameras. It was fast and light and really fun to shoot that way. Since shooting the report, I only have two zooms and I hardly use them. I had to use a pro camera because we needed to have a large raw file to work with for future applications the images may have.
ASMP: How is it different using real people on photo shoots as opposed to models? What’s better about using real people? What’s worse?
I like real people, We had one professional model and he was great, but the real people were excited about doing the job and having fun with it. No matter who was being used, they were having fun with it.
ASMP: How did you find models for this shoot, especially in foreign locations with language differences? Did you find any one casting source more effective than others?
When I was given the breakdown of the images needed, the products to be consumed and locations, I emailed the list to a group of about 10 people who I knew might be able to help, and slowly the names and locations started coming back. We knew the Los Angeles area would provide a diverse range of the images because of climate and range of demographics. At least half were shot there. Kraft reached out to a number of people in areas such as LA as well as Moscow and Barcelona. I asked whomever I was working with to send me camera phone shots of the people in mind so that Mike and I could see how they responded to the candid type of photography. It really helped. We only hired one “professional” model. And actually, he did not look like his headshot.
I have a very good friend who was working in Los Angeles at the time of the shoot. She took the list and pulled together so many locations and models we ended up paying her a producers fee. There was a woman who I found from a friend at Kraft who also provided a number of great leads. Between the two of them, I would say at least half the photos were captured.
With Russia and Barcelona, I relied on the Kraft liaisons for my client. I had a woman in Barcelona who was my guide and talent scout and another woman in Russia who provided me the subjects.
Russia was interesting because the only reason we went there was to photograph a specific type of kiosk where product is sold. They are not common anywhere else. On top of that, Kraft only sells product in kiosks about 20-30 minutes out of central Moscow. The art director also wanted to photograph a cab driver and he wanted a “classic” cab. Originally we wanted an English taxi, but knew the Russian taxi should look good. Only catch is that there are two taxi companies in Moscow and only one of them has the “classic” yellow taxi. So we called them to have a driver come, hoping he would work. He was great, but we ended up having to wash the taxi after getting out to the location to do the shoot. The weather had gotten very cold and snowy the day before I arrived, and the taxi was filthy. That was the most extreme set of conditions for two shots. But I really like what came out of it.
ASMP: Did you photograph the subjects in their natural settings or were other criteria important to the selection of locations?
It varied. A lot of the US locations were local settings where the subjects lived or worked. In LA we brought people to locations that were scouted out — parks, etc. The Barcelona shot was completely scouted out. I rented an apartment instead of a hotel room because the balcony looked like it might work, but it didn’t. After a full day of looking, we found a spot. I already mentioned the issues with Moscow. For photos that were meant to look like places other than the locations we were in, it was important to have someone verify that there was authenticity as far as representing proper environments.
ASMP: What about wardrobe, styling and hair/makeup? Were there other people involved in these aspects of production or did you do it all yourself?
All of that was natural. There were no additional needs. We asked the people to dress for the shot as we wanted. Nobody had any hair or make-up.
ASMP: What if any lighting equipment did you use?
On-camera flash if anything.
ASMP: How were the subjects compensated for the photo shoots?
They were compensated for usage in the report only. Kraft has been restricted to using the photos for only annual-report related material. Any additional usages are being compensated accordingly.
ASMP: What kind of licensing rights were involved in this assignment? Was this aspect of the project addressed any differently that usual due to the consumer/social networking approach?
Because they were friends and family, the rights are for the report. If and when we want to use the images for anything else, the people are being paid for it.
ASMP: Did you register the copyright to these images? Do you generally do this?
I have been working with Kraft for 17 years. 90 percent of what I do for them is proprietary and thus I have given my rights up for imagery.
ASMP: Has doing this assignment impacted or changed your basic perceptions of photography and the relationship between the professional and consumer markets?
This was one of my favorite assignments to date. I truly cannot express how liberating and/or enjoyable this was to shoot. I would have taken a bullet for this art director before this; it even impacts my feelings for him. Mike Miller is one of the most creative and liberating art directors I have ever had a chance to work with, and I was honored to do this job. When I started working for Kraft from an internal position, I was told that by working for them internally, I would never be able to do the external communications type work. But Mike has worked with me and we have enjoyed the process together. On top of that, everyone at Kraft from the CEO down to Donna gave us the chance to do something out of the box for Kraft, and the result is something truly special.
